Changes to Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifiers for CAF

16 July 2019 – The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has changed the format for the Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifying process – which will see African teams contesting a final playoff round – a system used for the Russia 2014 World Cup tournament.

For the next competition, the qualifiers will be divided into three rounds – the first two contested by all the teams with the last one featuring the last 10 standing.

Provisional dates for the qualifying process extend from October 2019 through to November 2021.

The draw for African qualifiers is expected to be at the end of July.

The allocation of slots for each confederation was discussed by the FIFA Executive Committee on 30 May 2015 in Zürich after the FIFA Congress.[6] The committee decided that the same allocation as used in 2006, 2010 and 2014 would be kept for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments:

For the 2018 finals in Russia, there were two preliminary rounds to cut the field down to 20 countries, which then contested the five places for Africa in a group competition.

2014 Format:

The qualification structure was as follows:

First round: A total of 26 teams (teams ranked 28–53) played home-and-away over two legs. The 13 winners advanced to the second round.

Second round: A total of 40 teams (teams ranked 1–27 and 13 first round winners) played home-and-away over two legs. The 20 winners advanced to the third round.

Third round: The 20 teams which had advanced from the second round were divided into five groups of four teams to play home-and-away round-robin The winners of each group qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup is scheduled to be the 22nd edition of the FIFA World Cup.

It is scheduled to take place in Qatar in 2022. This will be the first World Cup ever to be held in the Arab world and the first in a Muslim-majority country.

This will be the first World Cup held entirely in Asia since the 2002 tournament in South Korea and Japan.

In addition, the tournament will be the last to involve 32 teams, with an increase to 48 teams scheduled for the 2026 tournament.

This will also mark the first World Cup not to be held in May, June, or July; the tournament is instead scheduled for late November until mid-December. It is to be played in a reduced timeframe of around 28 days, with the final being held on 18 December 2022, which is also Qatar National Day.

QUALIFICATION PROCESS:

Qatar, as hosts, qualified automatically for the tournament. However, Qatar is obliged by the AFC to participate in the Asian qualifying stage as the first two rounds also act as qualification for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup

If they reach the final stage, their choice on whether to continue with World Cup qualifying is subject to FIFA approval

If the hosts choose not to compete, the next-ranked team will advance instead

For the first time after the initial two tournaments of 1930 and 1934, the World Cup will be hosted by a country whose national team has never played a finals match before